1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a means for transverse cutting of a web of cellular plastic fed continuously out of a forming machine, which means includes a stand-mounted reciprocating carriage moving in synchronism with the web in the direction of traverse and at the same time dividing the web into separate lengths by means of transverse cutting devices. These cutting devices consisting of mutually spaced filaments extending transversely across the carriage capable of simultaneous motion perpendicular and horizontal to the plane of the carriage. During successive synchronized tranverses of the carriage in the direction of the web, the cutting devices cut alternately towards and away from the plane of the carriage in the manner described in our co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 755,019, filed Dec. 28, 1976.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The device described in our co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 755,019, filed Dec. 28, 1976, is designed to cut only straight, vertical sections in the cellular plastic web. However, the edge or profile of the cut sides of the cellular plastic tiles produced by this method must commonly be given a different form to permit adjacent tiles to overlap each other. In this manner, considerably less heat is lost than if vertically cut tiles are set side by side. For instance, the procedure for producing insulating tiles with flanged edges on all sides in a continuous process has hitherto been as follows:
The cellular plastic web fed continuously out of a forming machine is fed into a machine provided with edge cutters, which produce the desired flange shape along the two sides of the cellular plastic web in a longitudinal direction. The web is then cut into tiles in the transverse cutter described above, the cuts thus produced being straight and vertical. Having passed through this cutter, each tile must be guided out of the machine in a direction perpendicular to the earlier direction of travel and passed through a second machine provided with edge cutters which cut the desired shape of flange along the two transverse sides of the tile. After this process, the direction of feed of the tile must twice more be changed by 90.degree. before the tile again reaches the original production line, along which it is conveyed for further processing and/or treatment.